Biomedical science as a career is still in its infancy stage at Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU). Therefore, the overall goal of our proposed RISE program is to build a strong community of biomedical researchers in the participating departments of Biology and Chemistry, thereby making research an important component of student, faculty and institutional development. In turn, the number of our graduates who go on to doctoral programs in the biomedical sciences will increase significantly. The goals will be achieved through the following measurable objectives: (1) increase the number of undergraduate students in participating departments who are engaged in biomedical science research by 50% from baseline of 8 to 24 by the end of the grant cycle; (2) increase the number of student-authored publications by 80% each year of the grant; (3) increase the number of students from participating departments who present papers at professional conferences by 100% from the baseline; (4) increase the number of faculty in participating departments engaged in biomedical research from 25% (4/17) by 100% (8/17) by the end of the grant cycle; (5) increase student awareness of career options in the biomedical sciences and ethics in biomedical research through organized workshops; (6) improve students' GRE scores and facilitate the graduate school application process through organized summer workshops. [unreadable] [unreadable] The successful execution of the activities that include research participation, summer workshops, and interdepartmental seminars should lead to significant progress toward achieving our goals and measurable objectives. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]